Racism in Ireland: A Thread

Now that we’re finally talking about it, let's get into it. Some facts and figures, some observations, and some resources for those who would like to know more:

1/ The first reported deportation of the Irish state was in 1925 to a “black prince.”

2/ In the 1960s, racial violence against black med students was so severe that Nigerian newspapers warned their readers not to study in Ireland for their own safety.

3/ There is also evidence from Irish courts of young African men charged with “seduction” or “having carnal knowledge” of young Irish women, usually brought by the women’s fathers. In once case, a Nigerian medical student was ordered to pay £700 in damages to the woman’s family.

4/ Throughout the 20th c. mixed race Irish children were institutionalised at disproportionately high rates and often experienced targeted and racially motivated violence and abuse within those institutions.

5/ A 2018 report on Mother and Baby homes: mixed race children "were eugenically rated for likely intelligence based in part on the nuns' assessment 'of the intelligence of the natural mother and how 'negroid' the features of the infant were.”

6/ In 2004, the 27th Amendment passed with 80%, changing the Irish constitution to recognize citizenship based on blood ties rather than place of birth. The "Yes" campaign traded on racist, xenophobic (and unfounded) accusations of “pregnancy tourism” by primarily black women.

7/ In 19th century America, the performance of blackface minstrelsy was heavily dominated by Irish-Americans. In Ireland, show bands like the Zulus--who performed in Afro wigs, animal skins, and blackface--continued to tour throughout the 1970s-80s.

8/”But we love Phil Lynott.” His mother recalls how “Philip had insensitively been given the chore of collecting money from the schoolboys for what was called ‘the Black Babies’, but in reality was for the Catholic Missionaries in Africa.”

9/ “But we love Paul McGrath.” McGrath’s mother was socially ostracised for having a mixed-race child out of wedlock, and McGrath was institutionalised as a child.

10/ “But we love Jayo.” Jason Sherlock was exposed to racist abuse, both by other players and adult fans. At the 1995 Leinster Semi-Final, opposition fans were chanting “Chinese bastard,” “little n---,” “little Chink” and “slanty-eyed fucker” anytime Sherlock had the ball.

11/ Whiteness is a construct, not a skin colour. Whiteness is a privilege that the Irish fought long and hard to obtain, often at the expense of black and POC communities. The question now is: how can we divest from whiteness in meaningful and material acts of anti-racism?

12/ There is racist and there is anti-racist. There is action and inaction. There is complicity though complacency, through failing to challenge and change the systems from which you benefit, and there is intentional resistance. What will you choose?

13/ (And yes, Ireland does have a history of anti-racist action. Mary Manning and the Dunnes strikers gave up their income to stand in solidarity with the anti-Apartheid movement. Bernadette Devlin, when given the key to New York, turned around and gave it to the Black Panthers.)

14/ (And also yes, race in Ireland goes beyond binaries of black and white. There is so much more to be said about the Traveller community, Asian communities, Central and Eastern European communities...)

15/ Sources:
Tweets 1-3: See John Brannigan’s “Race in Modern Irish Literature and Culture” (2009). It is the best book that I have read about race in Ireland.

16/ Tweets 4-5: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/0223/1117125-mother-and-baby-homes/
See the work of the Association of Mixed Race Irish and the #IamIrish campaign ( http://iamirish.org ). Also, Margaret McCarthy’s book “My Eyes Only Look Out” (2001) is a collection of interviews with mixed race Irish.

17/ Tweet 6: See the critical work of Ronit Lentin and Robbie McVeigh.

Tweet 7: See Eric Lott’s “Love and Theft” (1993), Lauren Onkey’s “Blackness and Transatlantic Irish Identity” (2009).

18/ Tweet 8: See Philomena Lynott’s “My Boy: The Philip Lynott Story” (1995)

Tweet 9: See Paul McGrath’s autobiography “Ooh Aah Paul McGrath” (1994)

Tweet 10: News report from the Sunday Independent

19/
Tweet 11: Noel Ignatiev’s “How the Irish Became White” (1995), David Roediger’s “The Wages of Whiteness” (1991), Diane Negra’s “The Irish in Us: Irishness, Performativity, and Popular Culture” (2006).

20/
For general histories of race and migration in Ireland see Steve Garner’s “Racism in the Irish Experience” (2004) and Bryan Fanning’s “Migration and the Making of Ireland” (2018).